Infy tightens belt, puts off joining dates for new hires

India's second-largest software company Infosys has deferred the joining dates for a new batch of 17,000 engineers by around 3 months as part of a cost-cutting exercise.

The company, however, maintained that it would honour all offers made to prospective employees.

"We would like to reiterate that all campus offers made will be honoured," said a statement issued by the company.

"To minimise the impact of this delay for the new hires, we are introducing an exclusive online training programme."

The completion of this training will give the new joinees a headstart in their careers and also reduce their planned six months training programme in Mysore by up to two months, the company said.

Infosys was the only big information technology company to defer a wage hike in April. It also announced a hike of about 6% in salary for offshore employees and up to 3% for onsite employees effective October.

"We anticipate many queries from candidates on specifics around this change. In addition to personal communication and addressing queries through emails, candidates have been invited for an exclusive online chat to address further questions and understand details of the programme," said the statement.

The company's stock closed up 1% at Rs. 2,380 on the Bombay Stock Exchange.